Wig or head-piece for dolls and the like and process of making the same.



A. H. BUTLER.

WIG OR HEAD PIECE FOR DOLLS AND THE LIKE AND PROCESS OF MAKING THE SAME.

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 9, 1910.

1,090,198, Patented Mar.17,1914.

COLUMBIA PLANOCIRAPH C0,;WAsmN c.

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ALICE I'I. BUTLER, OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS.

WIG'r OR HEAD-PIEGE FOB, DOLLS AND THE LIKE AND PROCESS OF MAKING THE SAME.

eena Specification of Letters Patent.

llfatented Mar. 17, 1914;.

Application filed April 9, 1910. Serial No. 554.314.

1' 0 all wilt/77L it may concern lle it known that I, Amen ll. l lu'rmcn, a citizen of the United States, residing at l lvanston, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful lim n'ovements in Wigs or Ill cad- ]?ieccs :for Dolls and the like and the Process of hilaking the Same, of which the following is a :full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to wigs or head pieces for dolls and the like and the process of making the same, and has for its primary object to provide an improved means :for securing the hair to the head a doll and an improved process :for n'actising the invention by which hair for the heads of dolls or other imitations of the human form or of animal form, or even hair for use in brushes and the like, may be secured to some suitable retaining means.

lleretofore it has been the practice to secure hair to the heads of dolls and the like by the use of mucilaginous or gmmny substances, and these materials have usually been susceptible to moisture so that the hair readily became detached, disfiguring the doll or other object to which the hair is secured.

A further object of the invention, there' fore, is to provide an improved process by which hair may be secured in a suitable retainin substance and having at the same time the appearance of the natural method by which hair is secured, for example, on the human head or on the bodies of animals.

To the attainment of these ends and the accomplishment of certain other new and useful objects as will hercina'fte JPPCHI, the invention consists in the features of novelty set forth in the accompanying description of the article and process and illustrated so far as possible in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and finally set forth more specifically in the appended claim.

In the said drawings Figure 1 is a view of the head of a doll to which a wig or head piece constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention it attached. Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the dot I head illustrated in Fig. 1, showing the details of construction of the head piece and the mode of securing the same to the head of the doll. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows. Figs. 4:, 5 and (3 are views illustrative of the process of constructing the improved wig or headpiece for dolls and the like in accord ance with the principles of my improved process, l ig. -11: being a sectional view through the mold or screen forming mcmber showing how the hairs are introduced through the meshes of the screen mold before being secured therein by the introductu m of plastic material into the mold which afterward sets or hardens around the ends of the hair. Fig. 5 a view similar to Fig. at, showing a section through the screen mold into which the plastic material has been introduced for securing the ends of the hairs which extend within the concave side of the screen mold. llig. (l is a view similar to that shown in Figs. -'t. and 3, but showing the screen mold in the process of being ren'ioved by withdrawing it longitudinally over the free ends of the hair. A

in practising the invention it is preferred that the hair be secured to a detachable member adapted to be mechanically secured to the top of the head of a doll, and to do this it is preferred that the doll head, which is usually of porcelain or other molded and tire or heat hardened material, shall be constructed as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 with the spherical segment at the top portion of the head removed and that the walls of the head be provided near the plane where the spherical segment is removed with suitable means to which the wig or top head piece may be mechanically secured.

In the drawings the material of which the head is preferably eoiistructed is indicated by the reference character .10. and the means to which the wig or top head piece may be secured consists of three inwardly projecting members or lugs 11, shown in Figs. 2 and 1.2 indicates the top head piece to which the hair is secured. and this member 12 is secured in position on the top of the head by suitable retaining members as screws 13, passing through holes in the members ll. and projecting into the head piece 152.

The hair is secured to the member 12 by being embedded therein, preferably when the material of which the member 12 is composed is in molten, :form. and the process of making this wig or head piece is as follows: A mold preferably of a grade of fine wire screen is used, the same being given the form of the segment of a sphere or having a concave side approaching the contour of the upper part of the head or skull of the doll. Such a mold of wire screen illustrated in Figs. & to 6, being indicated by the reference character 14, and this mold or form 1a may be constructed of any suitable perforated material as cloth or any metallic substance, although screen having a fine mesh and constructed of a fine quality of brass wire is most to be preferred for a mold, as the wire mesh permits the hair to be separated or distributed throughout the surface of the completed wig, avoiding the securement of the hair in tufts, which is very objectionable in wigs. The mold 1a being of the form illustrated in Figs. 4: to 6, the hair is introduced being thoroughly separated or distributed through the meshes of the screen from the convex into the con cave side of the wire screen mold, the ends of the hairs projecting therein about as illustrated in Fig. 1. Into the mold then is introduced some suitable material preferably in molten or plastic form and which will harden in cooling or exposure. Celluloid is the preferred material for this purpose, although it will be apparent that rubber or gutta percha may be employed and in some instances even para-ifin and other substances which may be readily melted and which will harden on cooling, may be employed. rafter the molten material is introduced into the concave side of the form as illustrated in Fig. 5 and has had an opportunity to cool or harden to an extent, the screen wire mold l t may be removed by withdrawing it over the longitudinal length of the hair, as illustrated in Fig. 6, thus leaving the hair which is indicated throughout the views by the reference character 15 securely locked in position to the top or head piece 12. If the screen wire mold 14: be constructed of a sufiiciently fine mesh, most materials such as celluloid or india rubber or caoutchouc and the like, will be found to harden on striking the material of the mold sufiiciently to prevent the loss of any considerable amount of the molten material by escaping downwardly through the mold. After the mold 1a is withdrawn from the top of the wig or head piece and pulled longitudinally of the length of the hair 15 until it is disengaged from the same, the wig or head piece may then be secured in any desired manner to the top of the head of the doll, but most preferably as already indicated, by passing screws 13 through suitable holes in lugs 11 and allowing their extremities to enter the material of the top or head piece 12.

It will be apparent that the head piece 12 might readily be secured by glue or other mucilaginous substances to the top of the doll head, but some form of mechanical fastening as that illustrated is preferred, because it is found that when materials such as celluloid are employed in producing the body of the wig or head piece the hair is so securely locked therein that it is not af fected by moisture, and a doll provided with one of these top head pieces is not liable to be injured should a child apply water to the head, which heretofore in devices of this character has caused great and permanent damage.

It will be seen that the process of constructing the wig or top head piece herein shown and described may with equal facility be employed for securing hair or other fibrous material in position in the backs of brushes and the like, and it is not desired to be limited in the process claimed herein to the manufacture of wigs or head pieces for dolls alone, but claim is made broadly to the process herein shown and described.

In order that the invention might be understood the details of the preferred embodiment thereof and the process of making the same have been shown in detail, but it is not desired to be limited to the exact details of construction, and it is apparent that many modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departure from the purpose and spirit of the invention.

lVhat I claim is:

The herein described process of manufacturing wigs or top head pieces for dolls and the like which consists in introducing a plurality of thoroughly separated or distributed hairs or other fibrous material at varying angles from the convex into the concave side of a wire screen mold, applying to the interior of the wire screen mold molten or plastic material adapted to harden on cooling on exposure to the air, and after the hardening of the plastic material withdrawing the wire screen mold over the free ends of the hair or other fibrous material.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 5th day of April A. D. 1910.

ALICE H. BUTLER. Witnesses A. L. SPRINKLE, C. H. SEEM.

eagles 02 this patent may he obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of latente, Washington, D. U. 

